Bach's Horn Parts

Author(s): W. F. H. Blandford
Reviewed work(s):
Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 77, No. 1122 (Aug., 1936), pp. 748-750
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/920457 .
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 _ ___ _ __ __ _. .
748 THE MUS IC.AL TIMES
but by Mr. Massine himself. But for heaven's sake
let him keep his hands off Beethoven's seventh until
he has emerged from his present undergraduate stage.
These remarks depart from the field of discussion
occupied by Mr. Newman and his opponents, but
I think that, right or wrong, they occupy the true
field. The ballet question will settle the musical
question. This has hitherto occupied the foreground
because most of the writing about ballet is done by
musicians. Newspaper criticism of ballet tends to
fall into the hands of the music critics because they
are the only journalists who can be trusted to refer
to the musical side without committing howlers.
Bach's Horn
By W. F. H. BLANDFORD
T HEquestion of Bach's brass instruments, as
Schweitzer says, is a complicated one, and a
long-standing interest in it has taught me that
its pitfalls are capable of entrapping the most careful
of writers, especially if he has never studied instru-
mental structure and technique at first hand. Yet
even so, it has been a surprise to me to find Dr.
Whittaker, who has done such admirable work in
bringing Bach's cantatas to life, at the bottom of a
trap, from which I shall do my best to extricate him.
In his ' Pilgrimage through the Church Cantatas of
J. S. Bach ' Dr. Whittaker has told how he got over
the difficulty of performing Bach's exacting horn parts
by having them played on trumpets with bowler hats
hung over the bells. (This device, by the way, which
so happily marries the austerities of Bach to the frivol-
ities of Jazz, seems almost to have been anticipated
by the Cothen Capelle, which, according to its inven-
tory of 1768, possessed 'A pair of Hats containing
A Horns.') So far, so good-no one can complain of a
makeshift; but the next statement, that Prof. Terry,
in his 'Bach's Orchestra,' advances the theory that
the same instrument served for both trumpet and
horn, a different mouthpiece being used to produce
the contrasting effects, fails to represent the true
nature of the theory which, as Prof. Terry states,
was suggested by so eminent an authority as Canon
Galpin.
This theory has nothing to do with the horn, as
musicians understand the word, that is, as denoting
the French horn (' Jagdhorn' or ' Waldhorn '). It is
concerned merely with the instrument, or instruments,
appearing in Bach's cantatas under the names' Tromba
da tirarsi' and 'Corno da tirarsi '-that is, 'slide-
trumpet' and ' slide-horn.' Do these names indicate
two instruments, or a single instrument used with
different mouthpieces ?
Unfortunately, Bach, when writing for the slide-
trumpet and slide-horn, did not confine himself to
the above unambiguous names, but also wrote parts
similar in every respect under the names 'Tromba,'
'Corno,' 'Corno da caccia,' and 'Clarino,' with
omission of the words 'da tirarsi,' terms which
are used by him in other works to denote the natural
trumpet and horn. All his parts for slide-instru-
ments, under their half-dozen names, will be found
enumerated in ' Bach's Orchestra ' under the general
title ' Zugtrompete.'
The dual use of four terms for instruments belong-
ing to two acoustical systems has been the main
cause of the complication to which Schweitzer refers,
one that could be cleared up only by a critical
examination and comparison of the parts themselves.
The results of such an examination are given in Prof.
Terry's Tables; but the student, if he has access to
the Bach-Gesellschaft edition, will gain most by
making his own comparative study of the parts and
afterwards confirming or amending his conclusions by
the tables. My own analysis was made over forty
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August, 1936
But the bulk of the talk about ballet is carried on
by ballet-goers who seldom see the inside of Queen's
Hall. I can assure Mr. Newman that those who
object to 'Les Presages' and ' Choreartium' on
musical grounds are far outnumbered by those who
are disappointed with them on choreographic grounds;
and since he has devoted four articles to the mal-
content musicians, the malcontent balletomanes
claim the right to at least ten. If before writing
them Mr. Newman would go into a corner with
Mr. Massine and, in the former's happy phrase, do
a little quiet thinking, we should all enjoy both the
spectacle and the result. McN.
Parts
years ago and led to a long and, to me, profitable
correspondence with Ebenezer Prout.
Of the parts marked ' Corno ' or ' Corno da caccia,'
which alone concern us, those meant for natural horns,
under either designation, can as a rule be readily
identified if it is borne in mind, first, that they are
written for transposing instruments in D, F, G, A
or B flat in all cases, except Cantatas 16 and 65, which
require horns in C; and secondly, that they follow
the same lines and exhibit the same series of notes as
those for the natural trumpet, that is, the harmonic
series up to the eighteenth or twentieth proper tone,
together with a few extra-harmonic notes sanctioned
by custom and representing harmonics altered in
pitch by forced resonance.
Parts that fail to comply with the above rules, as
being non-transposing or containing notes not avail-
able to natural instruments, must be assigned to the
'
Zugtrompete ' group. Of course difficult and doubtful
cases occur but are not of great importance. This is
not the occasion for going into details.
There is one other distinction of interest between
the natural and the slide instruments. In three out
of four works in which the natural trumpet or horn
takes part, Bach employs three (rarely two or four)
trumpets, or two (once three) horns. But in no com-
position does he, according to Prof. Terry's tables,
write for more than one slide instrument except in
Cantata 43, in which the voice parts of one choral are
doubled by three slide-trumpets. This unique appear-
ance of three such instruments for a few bars is a
remarkable fact. Musical instruments cost money,
and it is a good rule not to credit Bach's musicians
with the possession of more than were really necessary.
No example of the 'Zugtrompete' was known
before 1908, when Dr. Curt Sachs described one made
by Hans Veit in 1651 and now preserved in Berlin.
Dr. Terry has also given a full description of it, with a
figure that is ill-drawn as regards the bell (op. cit.
p. 31). This trumpet differs from the usual type only
in having a long inner tube inserted into the mouth-
pipe for its entire length. This tube, which takes the
detachable mouthpiece, projects for about two inches
at its free end, and so forms the only hold for the left
hand. When the slide is used, the whole body of the
trumpet is made to travel forwards and backwards
along the inner tube for shifts which may extend to
seventeen inches. I recently had an opportunity of
handling Veit's trumpet and satisfying myself that
the inner tube may be accepted as part of the original
construction and not as a later addition; but I found
the long shifts troublesome, the left hand-hold
inadequate for control of the embouchure, and any
addition of crooks seemingly impracticable.
Nearly all Bach's parts for instruments ' da tirarsi '
were composed from seventy to ninety years after
the making of Veit's trumpet, so that there was ample
time for someone to have designed a handier instru-
ment. But whether this was ever attempted or not
August, 1,936 THE MUSICAL TIMES
must, in the absence of further evidence, remain
unknown.
By whatever name Bach indicated his slide-
instruments, they had, as a collation of the parts
shows, a chromatic scale sounding from a to d"'
(practically the compass of the natural trumpet, that
of any natural horn being lower according to the key
of the instrument); and parts for the 'Corno da
tirarsi' do not, as Prof. Terry points out, differ in
compass or character from those of the 'Tromba da
tirarsi.' So far, then, as the acoustical principle is
concerned, there may well have been a single instru-
ment masquerading under two names, or rather,
groups of names.
It is, of course, common knowledge among brass
players that the tone-quality of an instrument can
be altered by changing the pattern of mouthpiece.
This, however, is true only within limits, because the
shape of the mouthpiece is only one of the factors
that determine the tone, the contour and dimensions
of the bore and bell being also of importance.
The effects obtainable by using a variety of mouth-
pieces on the trumpet lend themselves readily to
experiment; and therefore, as Prof. Terry makes no
reference to this, I recently fitted up a slide-trumpet
to carry a horn mouthpiece, and tried a number on
it, including those of the most orthodox types. My
practical experience has been gained almost entirely
on the horn, and I may therefore claim to have given
the contraption as good a chance of sounding like a
horn as a trumpeter would have done. The results
did not go far to support Canon Galpin's theory. Of
course, 'edge-tone' partly or wholly disappeared,
and much brilliance and penetration was lost; but
enough remained to keep the tone unmistakably of
trumpet character. No doubt it was a poor trumpet
tone, but horn tone is something other than that of a
trumpet which has lost its voice, and I hardly think
that anyone would have used the word 'horn' in
connection with the instrument and its tone, except
perhaps those Americans who use the term to cover
every form of brass instrument, and even call the
trombone a ' slip-horn.'
Julius Kosleck, who introduced the' Bach trumpet '
to English listeners in 1885, used, according to H. L.
Eichborn, a horn mouthpiece of soldered sheet metal.
This kind, now disused in this country, represents the
extremest form of conical mouthpiece. It seemed so
strange a choice for a player of Bach's highest
trumpet parts that my incredulity led me to write to
Eichborn about it, but he assured me of the correct-
ness of his information. An examination of this
mouthpiece would be of interest, but even in Berlin
nothing seems now to be known of Kosleck's methods
or instrument. The purity and beauty of his tone was
a matter of constant praise, and it was accepted as
the ideal tone for a clarinist.
Whether Canon Galpin's ingenious theory ade-
quately explains the 'corno da tirarsi' or not, must
remain an open question unless and until some
further information is unearthed. However doubtful
it may be, a good deal more doubt must attach to
Prof. Terry's extension of it, that by the use of
separate mouthpieces the ' Zugtrompete' might
become at will a clarino, a tromba, a corno da caccia
or a simple corno ; and it is unlikely that many brass
players will believe that a man, by changing his
mouthpiece, could give to a single slide-trumpet four
qualities of tone so distinct as to merit separate names
in Bach's scores. Such a tale reminds one of the
infernal cleverness and versatility of Mr. Mivins, who
' would come the four cats in the wheelbarrow-four
distinct cats, sir, I pledge you my honour.'
How should Bach's parts for the slide-horn, under
any of its names, be performed to-day ? It is not
given to everyone to repeat Dr. Whittaker's 'hat-
trick' and get away with it. I suggest that all, or
nearly all, of them, particularly when the instrument is
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749
used in support of a voice part, would be suitably
played on a flugelhorn in B flat or A ; this corre-
sponds in key and general compass with the cornet
and orchestral trumpet (not the Bach variety) but
is fuller and more horn-like in tone.
The natural horn, as already stated, appears in
Bach's scores as ' Corno da caccia,' or simply ' Corno.'
Whether these were two instruments or one is of no
immediate importance; for present purposes they
can be treated as one. As the horn, though employing
a series of notes identical with that of the natural
trumpet, is used by Bach in keys varying from a tone
to an octave lower, it is impossible that any of Bach's
parts should have been played on a trumpet furnished
with a horn mouthpiece.
To players trained on the clarino trumpet even the
highest of Bach's horn parts, such as the terrible
obbligato in Cantata 14, which takes the horn in
B flat alto to the eighteenth harmonic, would probably
not have appeared unduly exacting; but it is difficult
to understand how they could ever have achieved
real accuracy in the highest registers, if their duties
compelled them to keep on chopping and changing
from trumpet to horn, particularly in a low key, and
back again. They could, of course, have used mouth-
pieces of the same diameter, but there was more in
it than that. It has been generally assumed that
Bach's players were familiar with the deep conical
horn mouthpieces so constantly figured but so rarely
seen to-day. But were they ? I have ah open mind
on the subject, but up to the present I have been
unable to satisfy myself that they used a pattern so
little suited to their requirements.
In attempting Bach's parts the horn player of
to-day meets with difficulties similar to those that
his colleague, the trumpeter, encounters. His main
object in life, to achieve which his instrument,
embouchure and training are all adapted, is to play
modern music, and it leaves him no inducement to
specialize in parts that certainly will rarely, and
probably will never, come his way. However, the
wide range of keys in which Bach's horns are employed
brings certain of the lowest parts within the scope of
any competent player. Such are those for horn in C
(Cantatas 16* and 65) and in D (the 'Quoniam' in
the Mass in B minor), such parts being transposed
and played on a horn a fourth or fifth higher, as the
player may find convenient. But parts for horn in F
(as in the first Brandenburg Concerto or the 'Christ-
mas Oratorio') or any higher key call for players of
the highest ability, even when aided by transposition,
and some of the most arduous must be ruled out as
impracticable. How can the difficulty of performance
be best surmounted ? Dr. Whittaker's device, besides
inviting unfavourable comment on account of its
oddity, involves taking the trumpet down, in many
cases, below its effective compass, particularly in the
second horn parts. The occasion he mentions, when
he had 'three men solemnly playing long trumpets '
through their hats, can be identified as a performance
of Cantata 143, the only one requiring three horns.
These are in B flat, of all keys the one best suited to
Dr. Whittaker's method.
I suggest that the performer might follow the
example of the trumpeter, who plays Bach on an
instrument standing a fifth or, now usually, an octave
above the natural trumpet, and fills in the missing
notes with the valves. He mighthave a small horn in D
and C alto, or even in F (or F and G) alto, and trans-
pose as the trumpet does. Forty years ago I visited
Eichborn, to find him playing, for special reasons, on
a horn in C alto, made to his order; previously he
had, according to Riemann's 'Lexicon,' designed an
'Oktav-Waldhorn,' which spoke very freely and
was adopted by the Silesian army bands. Also in
1873 Cerveny of Koniggratz brought out, under the
* Unless meant for horn in C alto.
 750 THE MUSICAL TIMES
name of ' Primhorn,' a similar instrument in F and E
flat, which, according to Sachs, was very true, with
an easy production and good high notes, but an
inadequate bass (which would not matter for Bach's
music). In our Tenor Cor in F and E flat, which
is used in some military bands as a substitute for
the horn, we have a closely similar instrument, but
it is too much of a saxhorn and its high notes are
too difficult. Both bore and mouthpiece would
need redesigning to make it a fit instrument for
Bach's music. If such an instrument were produced
and given to a trumpet or cornet player, rather
than a horn player (who as a rule would have to alter
his embouchure) it might provide a satisfactory
solution of the difficulty these parts present to all
but the very few.
HaslemereFestivalof Chamber
Music
IN the Haslemere Festival Mr. Arnold Dolmetsch
provides, each year, a panorama of music, chiefly
instrumental, from mediaeval times to the 18th
century: this year from the fantasies of Perotin
le Grand (c. 1200) and ancient Welsh harp-music
to sonatas by Haydn and Mozart. The programmes
cover a wide field, not only historically, but geo-
graphically-,-English, German, Italian, Spanish, and
French music each being represented-and in the
variety of the instruments employed-whole families
of viols, violins, recorders, and lutes, besides key-
board and other instruments.
The Festival this year was held from July 20 to
August 1, and consisted of the customary twelve
concerts, together with demonstrations of the old
instruments on the Tuesday and Friday mornings,
and opportunities for visiting the Dolmetsch work-
shops to see the instruments in course of manu-
facture.
The opening concert was devoted to works by
J. S. Bach, and included an unforgettable rendering
of the Church Cantata 'Er rufet seinen Schafen
mit Namen' (No. 175) for contralto (Elizabeth
Goble), tenor (Geoffrey Dunn), and bass (Artemi
Raevsky) voices, with three recorders and violon-
cello-piccolo (Nathalie Dolmetsch) obbligati, strings,
harpsichord, and organ. This revival of the violon-
cello-piccolo was a notable event. Earlier in the
evening the viola d'amore was heard in an aria
from another cantata, and a performance was given
of the fourth Brandenburg Concerto, the parts for
'flauti d'echo' being played, as Bach intended, on
recorders. This performance was inadequate as the
solo violin part was scarcely audible. It is, however,
unfair to criticise these concerts according to the
usual standards, for mere virtuosity has no meaning
for Mr. Dolmetsch, and his aim is rather to play the
music for its own sake in an informal way with the
help of his family and friends, than to give perfect
concert performances. Those who go to Haslemere
do not seek the standards of the concert hall, they
go to hear the Dolmetsch family making music on
those instruments which have been found to be
most suitable for music in the home.
At the second and eighth concerts some pieces
by Nicolas Vallet (1619) were played on a consort
of lutes. This rare combination consisted of treble,
alto, tenor, and bass lutes (tuned like the consort
of viols) and was full of variety and polyphonic
interest. Other notable performances of lute music
were the duets for two lutes from Jane Pickering's
Lute Book played at the tenth concert by Diana
Poulton and her pupil, Nelly Carson; and the
Spanish songs for contralto voice (Elizabeth Goble)
and lute (Diana Poulton) at the fifth concert.
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August, 1936
Even if such instruments were available to provide
for Bach's rather numerous horn parts in F and G, it
might still be advisable to give the few parts for horn
in A and B flat to a trumpet, cornet, or flugelhorn,
with or without bowler; but a more seemly device
can certainly be found among the many mutes now
available for the brass player.
But these few suggestions are, I fear, Utopian.
Since the B.B.C.'s courageous attempt to plough
through the whole of Bach's Church Cantatas petered
out, it is unlikely that any concern will go to the
trouble and expense of designing, experimenting,
and bringing out a ' corno piccolo,' as I propose. The
time to have done so was when that series of per-
formances was started.
Besides taking their part in the orchestra, the
recorders have been heard in transcriptions from
madrigals and chorales, arrangements of popular
tunes, and in a unique Sonata for seven recorders
and organ by J. H. Schmeltzer (c. 1650). Mr. Carl
Dolmetsch has ably demonstrated the recorder's
flexibility as a solo instrument in sonatas by Handel
and Senaille.
Fantasies for the consort of viols have been played
at five of the concerts, an outstanding performance
being that of a Fantasy for five viols by William
Lawes (c. 1635) at the eighth concert in which
Nathalie and Carl Dolmetsch were joined by some
members of the English Consort of Viols. Millicent
and Rudolph Dolmetsch played music for the
bass viola de gamba and harpsichord, including
a sonata by Bach, and divisions on a ground by
Christopher Simpson (1659).
A remarkable feature of the playing of the
Dolmetsch family and of those who have studied
with them, is the accuracy of the intonation. The
casual observer may attribute this to the fact that
the viols and lutes have frets. But, even so, the
tenor rebecs and violins have none. This all tends
to prove that the frets on the viols are not mere
crutches for people who cannot play in tune, and
that the constant playing of fretted instruments
need not spoil the player for instruments without
them.
Mr. Dolmetsch has spent a life-time of research
in order to bring to light these treasures of the past,
and has trained his family and pupils so that they
may be once again heard and enjoyed. His unique
experience of the old music and the instruments
for which it was written has given him an insight
into the meaning of many a mediaeval manuscript
which would be a closed book to other musicians.
Among these are the Welsh bardic pieces from the
Robert Ap. Huw MS. which Mrs. Dolmetsch
played on the Celtic harp during the course of the
Festival, and the Fantasies of Perotin le Grand
which have been interpreted on four tenor rebecs.
These manuscripts have baffled many learned music-
ologists, and in the absence of other theories we
must accept Mr. Dolmetsch's interpretations as
authoritative.
One cannot in a short article do more than record
the most vivid impressions that remain after the
Festival is over. The final impression is that of
the dances performed in period costume under the
direction of Mrs. Dolmetsch, who is responsible for
their revival; and, in particular, the English
Saraband danced by Mrs. Dolmetsch herself to
the music of Mr. Dolmetsch's violin.
EDGAR H. HUNT.